Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IAU vs SLV: Differences, Returns & Fees
IAU and SLV are both commodity funds, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SLV returned +14.9% against +2.7%.
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Net assets on Oct 28, 2026: $60.1bn for iShares Gold Trust and $26.9bn for iShares Silver Trust.
Pair scorecard
IAU costs 0.25 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 12.2 points; IAU is 2.2 times larger.
| Measure | IAU | SLV |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +2.7% | +14.9% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026 | 53.5%, high on Jan 28, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Gold | Silver |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.25% | 0.50% |
| Net assets | $60.1bn | $26.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
Risk and return
May 5, 2006 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,068 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: IAU against GLD, Feb 4, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026; SLV against SIVR, Jul 31, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026.
IAU returned more: +452.2% to +248.1%. IAU swung less: 17.5% to 32.5%. IAU fell less at its worst: −44.4% to −75.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IAU | SLV | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +452.2% | +248.1% | IAU | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +8.7% | +6.3% | IAU | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +452.2% | +248.1% | IAU | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 17.5% | 32.5% | IAU | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 12.1% | 23.0% | IAU | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −44.4% | −75.2% | IAU | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 100.4% | 100.2% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.0% | 100.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.47 | 0.30 | IAU | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.67 | 0.42 | IAU | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.098 | 0.107 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.20 | 0.08 | IAU | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | GLD | SIVR | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.1% a year | −0.2% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.67 | −0.92 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.2% to +0.4% | −0.6% to +0.2% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.18 | −0.19 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.7% | 0.8% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,068 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
IAU and SLV on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IAU and SLV are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. IAU follows Gold and SLV follows Silver.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IAU returned +2.7% and SLV +14.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 12.2 points.
- Cost. IAU charges 0.25% of assets a year and SLV 0.50%, a gap of 0.25 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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Its expense ratio is 0.25% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.
IAU holds gold. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.7% with distributions reinvested, against +2.5% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.6% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Its expense ratio is 0.50% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.
SLV holds silver. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.9% with distributions reinvested, against +15.0% for its benchmark, the price of silver. It sat 53.5% below its high of Jan 28, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, IAU or SLV?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and SLV +14.9%.
- Which is cheaper, IAU or SLV?
- IAU is cheaper, by 0.25 percentage points a year. That is about $25 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.
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ETFIQ, IAU against SLV, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iau-vs-slv
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). IAU against SLV. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iau-vs-slv
[IAU against SLV (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iau-vs-slv)
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